What Lies Beneath

Draco:

Draco sat at the top of the stairs fiddling with a cigarette filter. He squeezed and rolled it between his fingers until the filter popped out of the paper it was encased in. He then began to rip little pieces of the filter off, letting them fall to the floor around his feet. His phone had died long ago and he had unfortunately left his charger at Pansy's house, which meant he would just have to get a new one. He wasn't sure what time it was or how long he'd been waiting but it felt like a lifetime. He was just about to light another cigarette when someone opened the door to one of the units in front of him. Three men stepped onto the patio. He identified them all as Aurors. One was Lucas Dunning. The other was Harry Potter. And the third…. Draco was praying the red hair was just a coincidence but seeing as he was sitting outside of Hermione Granger's home it could only be Ron fucking Weasley. Draco wondered if it was too late to return to Jasper's and borrow a phone charger. And then Hermione stepped out onto the patio behind the three men. She spotted him immediately.

"Malfoy!" she squeaked. Identifying the tone of her voice was difficult for him. She was definitely surprised but he couldn't tell if she was horrified or happier than she wanted to let on. He stood quickly and awkwardly as the three men spun around to face him.

"Mr. Malfoy," Lucas Dunning drawled unenthused. "What are you doing here?" Draco wanted to ask him the same. He merely pointed at Hermione, staring at his parole officer with his eyebrows raised. Potter and Weasley said nothing. Potter went about his business, examining the large crack on Hermione's living room window and Ronald Weasley glared at Draco, turning redder by the minute. His uncontrollable flushing had always given his emotions away. His fists were clenched hard at his sides. Draco ignored them, focusing his attention on her. Hermione stepped away from the three men and walked towards him a little quicker than she meant to.

"Are you alright?" he asked stupidly. His words came out sounding a little breathless and he wanted to smack his head into something .

Hermione opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted rudely by some kind of outburst by Ronald Weasley. He scoffed loudly, "Are you fucking kidding me?!" he snapped . Draco could see the anger immediately leak into Hermione's golden brown eyes and he was worried for a moment that it was directed at him. Harry put a hand on his friend's arm. "Are you thick? Who the fuck do you think you are?"

Hermione spun around.

"Contain yourself Ronald!" she warned. Dunning watched the confrontation happen, a bored expression etched across his features. Ronald gaped at Hermione, his face still beat red. He then spun on his heel and entered her flat. Harry followed closely behind him, looking Malfoy up and down disapprovingly as he went.

"I…er… I'm sorry to just show up like this," Draco began. He was still rolling the remainder of the cigarette filter between his fingers. "It's just… my officer came and got me earlier…" Draco trailed off, his eyes falling upon Dunning who was standing in front of Hermione's window with his arms crossed, staring sternly at Draco. ."I heard there was trouble-"

"You're trouble!" Ronald called from inside.

"Ronald I swear!" Hermione yelled. Her face flushed red.

"I can see it isn't an ideal time," Malfoy added quickly. "I just wanted to make sure you and Xavier were ok. And I wanted to apologize for everything. I shouldn't have left things the way I did."

"Miss Granger, is Mr. Malfoy bothering you?" Dunning asked.

"No," Hermione said shortly. "I'm fine."

"Let me know if you need anything," Dunning muttered, moving to enter Hermione's flat. He paused for a moment. "When you two are through I actually want to discuss something with both of you. Inside, if Miss Granger feels comfortable with that." He entered the flat without another word.

"They're here doing tests," Hermione said. "They're trying to determine if magic was used to crack the window."

"Can't you do that yourself?" Draco asked. He realized the question sounded a little rude coming out and tried to correct himself. He was never too good with words. He was completely shitty at it if he was going to be honest. "I didn't mean you should have to…" he stammered. "You're just smarter than all three of them…"

Hermione rolled her eyes, a small smile turning one corner of her mouth up. He never knew she had a crooked grin. "You're rubbish at caring," she teased. "But they need to be here to make a report."

"I do. Care. I mean," he muttered. Draco felt his cheeks flush. Which didn't happen very often. He shook off his nerves and tossed his cigarette scraps off the patio. "After you?" he asked motioning to Hermione's door. She turned and entered her home. Draco followed her in to find the three men standing in the living room. Her home was small and modest. The wood floors were classy.

"You can sit if you like," Hermione muttered pointing to her couch. Draco took the invitation. He leaned into her couch taking it all in. The pictures of his son, the art, the plants. It was pretty well established that this was a very odd and uncomfortable situation but he couldn't un-fuck her and really didn't want to. Hermione sat across from him on the other couch as she usually did, crossing her long legs. She was still wearing her night clothes; a pair of shorts and t-shirt. He found himself taking her in, her legs, thighs, hips, slim waist… His eyes trailed up to her face to find she was staring at him with her eyebrows raised slightly. It was probably the wrong time to be lusting after her. He knew that. But he had spent five years in prison and then had spent very little time fucking someone he really didn't enjoy. He was a little surprised that his mind was going to go there, while Potter, and Weasley, and his parole officer were standing there. But it was too late. He already went.

Ronald Weasley cleared his throat loudly. The noise made Draco incline his head towards Weasley who was still glaring at him. He moved to Hermione's side protectively and sat next to her. Draco was surprised he hadn't sat on top of her. Hermione seemed put off by the close proximity. She crinkled her eyebrows at him and moved over a bit. Draco smirked.

"So, we did determine there was some magical residue left around the window. Seeing as Mr. Malfoy doesn't seem to know who it could have been, I'm proposing that extra precautions be taken," Dunning said outwardly. Hermione nodded slowly. "For both of you," Dunning added, waving his hand between the two of them. "You'll both be assigned to an emergency tactical team-" Draco was really starting to feel shitty. The chills and stomach cramps were starting. His nose was also beginning to run. This realization brought him some anxiety. He wiped his nose on his sleeve and let out a breath. "I'll be giving you both charmed rings to be worn at all times. They'll be enchanted to immediately transport you to safety immediately, if you come under attack."

"What about my son?" Draco asked. He was surprised he'd beaten Hermione to this question but she nodded her agreement. Ron scoffed again.

"Do you need some water Weasley?" Draco drawled. "Seems like you have something stuck in your throat."

"Your presence here is absurd," Ron snapped. "You're the reason they're in this situation. YOUR son?" Weasley laughed derisively, the sound completely devoid of humor. Draco had to steady himself. Ronald Weasley had always had a way of making his temper rise quite quickly. He swallowed it down. Along with the imminent need to vomit. They weren't in school anymore. Now, if Draco lost it he might beat him within an inch of his life. He shied away from that urge. He had never been a particularly kind individual…And although he didn't want to start now, he would for Hermione.

"He is my son," Draco said flatly.

"You're a low life. You look like shit. And you missed the first years of your son's life because you were supposed to serve a life term in Azkaban. You're a murderer-" Draco was aware of this. He inwardly rolled his eyes.

"Ron," Harry began. He knew this wasn't the time, but his best friend unfortunately had no filter. Hermione was glaring at Ron…Draco felt a sneer playing on his lips.

"And Hermione is too good for you. How you managed-"

"Ron!" Harry said a bit louder . Ron was about to cross a line. Draco could feel it so he leaned back into the cushions and clasped his hands behind his head.

"-to shag her is beyond me. But you're insane to think you could ever land a woman like her."

"Pretty sure she's not too interested in married men either," Draco replied wiggling his bare ring finger at Weasley. Ron stuffed his hand in his lap, hiding his wedding band from view as he opened his mouth to retort, "I think you misunderstand my presence here Weasley," Draco spoke loudly over Ron, cutting him off momentarily. "I'm not here to sweep Hermione off her feet and all that bullshit. This is the real world. And you're right. I am all those things. Which you'd be wise not to forget-"

"Is that a threat?" Weasley snapped. Draco pushed on although he wanted to tell this ignorant man that he would bury him without a second thought.

"-BUT that doesn't change the fact that I'm the father of her child and I do care what happens to them. You really don't have to like it. I didn't need your permission to do it. And I don't need your permission to be here. Just hers," Draco said motioning to the mother of his child. She met his gaze steadily. He found it odd that she hadn't cut him off yet. In the past she would have slapped him already on the behalf of her best friend. He sensed the dynamic between them had shifted immensely.

"We all know he's just an heir to you," Ron laughed again. That word seemed oddly out of place to Draco. "It's too bad your bloodline couldn't have died off with you."

Hermione's mouth dropped. She was so angry her hands were shaking. Draco could feel energy rolling off of her like the purr of a large machine.

"He's my son," Draco repeated slowly since Ronald was particularly dense. He felt like telling Weasley he would do it again. That he would put twelve of his heirs in Hermione. And that it wasn't really any of Ron's concern who Hermione let fuck her and that clearly she had taken part in conceiving his heir.. Enthusiastically. But that was extremely inappropriate and disrespectful to her so he bit his tongue. Hard. In the past he would have painted a crudely graphic picture for Weasley. He knew this wasn't necessary. He figured Weasley was probably doing enough of that all on his own.

"You need to leave Ronald. Please," Hermione's voice was low but it didn't hide the quiver. Everybody in the room could tell that this wasn't a request. "How fucking dare you insinuate that my son shouldn't exist. Merely because of who his father is. As if he had a choice."

"But you did," Ron mumbled. Hermione clasped her hands together tightly. Draco had a feeling she was trying to restrain herself from slapping Weasley on behalf of their son.

Draco could see that she was hurt by Ron's words and that made him angry. Weasley didn't have a right to judge her. Ronald realized he had indeed gone too far.

"Hermione…" he began apologetically. There really wasn't any excuse or anything he could say to correct his mistake. She turned her face away from him.

"Fuck you," she muttered. Draco was a taken aback hearing her speak with such animosity. "Now we all know how you really feel. Thanks for clearing it up. You can go now."

Draco didn't feel triumphant or smug. He felt awful for her. Ron stood stiffly and approached the front door, staring sheepishly at her. Draco saw her swallow hard as she pointedly ignored him.

"Let me know if there's anything more I can do Harry," he said. Harry merely nodded. He wasn't sure what he should say. He had warned him to stop while he was ahead. He figured after that wonderful outburst, Hermione wouldn't be requiring Ron's services anymore. Ronald shut the door softly and was gone.

Hermione let out a breath and wiped at her eyes. Draco summoned a box of tissues and steered it through the air to her. Harry sighed, leaning against the doorway of Hermione's kitchen. He wasn't sure what Malfoy was playing at. He was wracking his brain trying to see if there was some kind of angle he couldn't see. There had to be. Why else would Malfoy be so civil to Hermione? Unless he really was trying to be a good person, although Harry found that unlikely. So what could he possibly want from her? Unless he just wanted to convince Hermione he was a fit father. Harry took Draco's physical appearance into consideration. The asshole looked unwell. Plain and simple. He really didn't look like he could be a fit father. But Harry would wait to discuss his thoughts with Hermione in private.

"Let's wrap this up then," Dunning said briskly, clapping his hands together.

Draco left Hermione's flat fifteen minutes later fitted with a ring that suspiciously resembled a wedding band. It was plain, silver, and didn't come off no matter how hard he pulled on it. This ring could measure his heart rate and somehow monitor his safety from head to toe. Hermione had a matching one that replaced a ring she'd already been given by the ministry to keep her safe. Turns out they were watching things a lot closer than Draco had initially thought. There was a huge chance they were probably using him as bait to bring the other Deatheaters out of hiding. No wonder he'd gotten out so easily. He was expendable. Why would the Ministry or the wizarding world care what happened to him? They hadn't anticipated that he would have ties to Hermione Granger.

He sighed. In a different life he would have exploited that to the fullest. But really he just felt like a piece of shit. They hadn't anticipated that releasing him would put one of their most famous war heroes in danger. Or else they wouldn't have done it. Draco shook his head. Assholes.

Hermione had left her home with Harry and Dunning to go fit Xavier with a ring of his own. All three rings were linked together. If one person got pulled out of a bad situation, they all did. Draco almost felt like he had a family. He really just should have stayed away from her. Even though he realized what it meant for her and his sometimes, Draco found himself feeling selfishly relieved it happened. Maybe he just didn't want to feel so alone.

He arrived at Jasper's a short time later to find that the place had been completely transformed. Draco sat on the couch and dug around for his stash.

"So what's going on here?" he asked. Jasper seemed to be preparing for some kind of party. Draco prepared his drugs but found that today it was more because he didn't want to be sick than wanting to get high. Well…he mostly didn't want to be sick and partly wanted to get high.

Just call it what it is.

He sighed and went about his routine, feeling tired. He was hopeless.

"Was your baby mama alright?" Jasper asked after a moment.

"Yeah. But she would have been better if she'd never run into me again," Draco muttered. He didn't want to vocalize that he would probably be much worse off mentally if he hadn't run into her again. It was selfish. It reminded him of your classic parasite. Your host doesn't need you, but you need your host. And he was just latching on for dear life. He could be better one day. He heard Weasley's irritating laughter run through his head.

"How does she feel about it all?" Jasper muttered. He had a cigarette dangling from his top lip as he attempted to position some very large speakers towards the center of his living room. His place was very large. Draco hadn't seen it all but from the looks of it, Jasper could fit a lot of people into the space provided him.

"I'm not too sure," Draco drawled. He shut his eyes for a moment, running his fingers through his hair. "I think she's worried. I might have some bad people after me. And if they're after me they might go after her and my son. So I guess we've been placed under surveillance. Which is probably for the best. For them. The Ministry doesn't give a shit about me. I have a suspicion the only reason they cut me a deal was to lead them to the rest of the clan," Draco spat the word.

"That's a tough break," Jasper said.

"I probably deserve it," Draco mumbled. "I appreciate you letting me crash here. Thanks for that. I should probably get out of your hair. Wouldn't want to bring any more of my shit down on you. You know?"

Jasper shrugged. "I can't die, mate," he said simply. "Believe me, I've tried. Not even the sun can do it anymore. A witch cursed me long ago. Can you believe that? It's true what they say about a woman scorned. Don't you forget it," Jasper chuckled. "You're more than welcome to stay around tonight," he said taking a drag from his cigarette. He was hooking up his sound system. "Maybe unwind a bit. I throw one hell of a party. And tonight it'll be an all you can use buffet if you get my meaning." Draco nodded, letting his head rest against the couch cushions. He would get up and leave if he knew what was good for him. Unfortunately, Jasper had him at buffet. "But if you're gonna stay you should give me a hand."

"What do you need me to do?" Draco asked.

"Wave your stick around and help me get this done faster," Jasper replied. Draco groaned inwardly and hoisted himself off the couch, pulling his wand out. Doing magic high could sometimes be a hassle. Especially when he had to actually concentrate.

"Where's your girl at?" Draco asked.

"She left this morning. Like packed her shit and left," Jasper said. "You're lucky you missed that one." Draco knew all too well how her type could be.

"Hopefully she got dressed first," Draco murmured. Jasper paused, staring at Draco over his rose tinted sunglasses. For a moment Draco didn't know if he'd offended him, until Jasper let out a howl of laughter. He clapped Draco hard on the back and Draco smirked a bit.

"He's got jokes!" Jasper teased.

The two of them then set to work.

Later that Evening:

It was about 9:00 in the evening when people started arriving. Draco had dozed off on the couch and awoke to Jasper talking to a man who was setting up a laptop on a table they had put between the speakers. Draco guessed it had something to do with music. He had another guy positioned at his bar, setting up for the night. Draco was astonished at how much liquor had magically materialized while he'd been out cold. Jasper appeared to have a lot of connections because both men seemed to be friends of his.

"Draco!" Jasper said cheerily when he realized he was awake. "Why don't you go freshen up? You can use my shower."

Draco just nodded and stood up slowly, grabbing his drugs as he went. He then wandered down the hallway until he found the bathroom. He figured Jasper had put a lot of work into his home. Merlin knew how long he'd actually been living here. Everything seemed to be refurbished and expensive. The shower itself had spouts everywhere. On each wall and in the ceiling. Draco figured if you had to live forever you might as well do it right. He stripped off his clothes, turned on the water, and climbed in. Before all the heads began shooting water at him from all directions he heard the music start playing. The bass was vibrating through the walls. He sighed. He wasn't feeling particularly social and he knew the crowd that would be coming tonight wouldn't be people he would want to associate with but it was better than rotting away in Pansy's bathroom. If anything, he could leave and get himself a room somewhere. That seemed to be ideal but nothing ever worked out as he planned it.

As Draco washed away the sweat and stress, his mind replayed the events off the day. He had wanted to text Hermione to see if her night had gone over without any hassles from creepy weirdos lurking outside of her flat, but he hadn't . Before he had left her home, Lucas Dunning had told him it would be in Hermione and Xavier's best interest if he kept contact to a minimal. At least until they figured out who was watching her. And him. But mostly her. Cause Draco didn't really care about himself in that regard. And Dunning probably didn't really care about him either. He felt a little down about it. It was like when he discovered his first broom hidden in his parent's closet. When he had asked about it he was told he couldn't have it until his birthday. Although Hermione and his son couldn't really be compared to a broomstick…the concept was the same. He discovered something good and was told he couldn't go near it. He had a feeling if he pushed the issue they could slap some charges on him and send him back to Azkaban if they wanted to. Child endangerment or something. Maybe even interfering with an investigation.

Draco rinsed himself off and stepped out of the shower, using his wand to dry off. He then went to put on his clothes, to discover some new ones had been placed on the sink, where he had left his old ones. Draco wondered when Jasper had come in. He hadn't heard anyone enter the bathroom. Perhaps it was a vampire thing. He had heard they could be silent creatures if they wanted to be. He didn't know if Jasper should worry him or not. He seemed to be alright but Draco didn't want to make assumptions. It just felt good to know someone who was different like him. And who was aware of Draco's kind of different. There were rules about telling muggles about magic. There weren't rules about talking to a vampire. They were classified as magical just like witches and wizards. But not human.

Either way Jasper had really only made friendly advances in Draco's opinion. He'd said he'd had friends who were wizards. And Draco vaguely remembered him saying something about being cursed by a witch? Must have been a bad witch. He just hoped Jasper didn't harbor any secret vendettas against magical folk like him. His instincts weren't telling him to run, but that could easily be the vampire charm. They had lots of ways of appearing more human than they were… Or so he'd been told. To be safe, Draco would probably stay for a bit to be polite and long enough to stock up on some free drugs, and then he would leave. Draco stared at hard at himself in the mirror as he repeated his plan.

Stay long enough to be polite and take as many drugs as possible.

Draco got dressed, fixed in the bathroom, and joined the party. He felt better than he had all day.

Two Hours Later:

Draco was blown. He was so high he could barely think straight, which was how he liked to be. He sat on the couch he also liked to sleep on. There was a coffee table in front of him full of drugs in all forms. Pills, powder, tar. It was all there. And it seemed to periodically refill. He didn't realize it but there was an entrance fee to this party. He figured Jasper could afford to throw away all these drugs if he wanted to. But what was the point of that? Party for a profit. Everyone was pitching and everyone was high. It was a good time.

There was a girl next to Draco talking his ear off. Draco had no idea what she was talking about but he indulged her anyway. Jasper came by the table with another bowl of coke. Draco was surprised that the uppers were going faster than the downers. He decided it was because they'd want the downers later when they wanted to go to sleep. More for him.

"Having a good time?" Jasper asked loudly over the music. He had had Draco put a silencing charm around his entire home earlier. As to not disturb the neighbors.

"I don't even know anymore," Draco yelled back. He heard a laugh escape him and was startled for a moment cause he hadn't felt it come out. He blinked and tried to focus on Jasper. "Listen, thanks for everything," Draco said. He pushed some money into Jasper's hand. "I appreciate it."

"You've said that mate!" Jasper laughed pushing Draco's money back into his hand. The girl next to Draco snorted a huge line off of the coffee table. Draco was momentarily worried about her until she turned around triumphantly, raising her hands in the air.

"I did it!" she squealed.

"You did it!" Draco said back, equally enthusiastically. She then leaned forward and locked her lips onto his. Draco was surprised at the sudden contact and broke it as soon as he realized she had her tongue in his mouth.

"Have you met my friend?" he yelled, motioning to Jasper. Jasper was smiling a shark tooth grin that Draco hadn't seen before.

"No!" she said happily. "I'm Rita. Hi Jasper," she said with a small seductive grin. She put her hand out and Jasper kissed it.

"Would you like to see the balcony?" Jasper asked motioning to the sliding glass doors in his living room.

"Definitely," she said. Jasper led her away, waggling his eyebrows at Draco as he went. That had been incredibly easy. Draco leaned back into the couch and shut his eyes. He let the bass vibrate up through his body and found he was grinding his teeth. He had a feeling he had mixed too many substances together. He felt somebody sit down next to him and opened his eyes to find Pansy glaring at him.

"Fancy seeing you here," she snapped. Draco wanted to shut his eyes again and sink into the couch. He glanced at Jasper who had his face buried in the girl's neck on the balcony. At first glance anyone would have thought they were fooling around. Draco knew better. The girl was limply draped around Jasper, her hands dangling over his shoulders. She was clearly unconscious. He felt a tad bit guilty for pushing her off on Jasper until Jasper hoisted her over his shoulder and brought the girl back into the house.

"So you want to explain what the fuck happened Draco?" Pansy yelled over the music.

"Not really," Draco said plainly. He shrugged. She stared at him in complete disbelief.

"I've been trying to get a hold of you for days!" she yelled. "The least you could have done is replied!"

Jasper dropped the limp girl on the sofa next to Draco's.

"She's gonna have one hell of a hangover when she wakes up," he said jokingly until he looked up and saw Draco's face. It was clear that the party was over for the blonde. Jasper frowned as he realized it was Pansy sitting next to him on the couch looking quite angry. His eyes widened, and the corners of his mouth turned down.

"So what? You were just going to leave and not say anything?" Pansy yelled, completely ignoring Jasper. The party went on around them.

"Hey!" Jasper said cutting in. "Pansy, love! Good to see you! It's a party! Why don't get lit and relax?"

"Has he been here this entire time?" Pansy asked Jasper.

"Can you stop?" Draco yelled. He grabbed Pansy's arm and hoisted her off the couch. Jasper stood back as Draco dragged her out of the living room and down the hallway until he found an empty bedroom. He threw her in and slammed the door behind him.

A/N: I'm aware there's a few mistakes in this chapter. I plan to fix them asap. But I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for the follows and the reviews. I'm writing this on my phone on a tiny screen and the auto correct is driving me crazy. Thanks for sticking with me. :)